A former senior special assistant on public affairs to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, said he personally sees Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as a formidable opponent in the 2023 presidential race.
The former presidential aide stated this on Sunday, in reaction to the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader’s fall at the Arewa Lecture held in Kaduna State.
Okupe, in a series of tweets, said what happened to Tinubu was neither a fall nor a slump because these English words cannot be used to describe what was seen on the video.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain noted he saw Tinubu walking on a plain and unaware of a step down which created a misstep and brief stagger, adding that the incident can happen to anyone walking in a crowded unfamiliar territory.
According to him, the former Lagos State governor is one of the most politically sagacious politician in this period.
“Just on my own observation drawn from watching the video currently in circulation.
There was neither a fall nor a slump. From that video these english words cannot be ascribed to what is seen on the video.” his tweet read.
He added that “What I saw was a Bola Tinubu walking on a plain and unaware of a step down in level or a slight decent which created a mis-step and a stumble leading to a brief staggering which can happen to anyone walking in a crowded unfamiliar terrain.
“Besides this I personally see Bola Tinubu as a formidable opponent in d 2023 presidential race. Asiwaju is one of d most politically sagacious politician in this period. His acumen & administrative competence are worthy of commendation. In summary Asiwaju will be a good President.”
He continued “However, I believe I have a slight edge over him in that I understand national and Presidential politics more than him and in terms of intellectual resourcefulness we are at par if I am not better.
“But Bola Tinubu is coming in from a wrong party where he has such powerful antagonists that have capacity to stop him. D flagrant excesses of his party 2 which he never reacted publicly especially wt issues concerning d SW has made him not 2 be favoured by some of his own people.
“The other misfortune is that though Bola Tinubu has spent his life and his huge resources on developing political powerful lieutenants who now occupy very high and influential offices, now at his own point of need his major challengers are virtually all from his staple.
“On my part, a great advantage is that I am the only Yoruba of note in the presidential race from the PDP. This race promises to be interesting.
“May the Almighty God grant us all health and life to run this race for the betterment of our Nation and its people in Jesus Name. Amen.”
The PDP chieftain, who scored the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government low in handling insecurity, said he had a master plan for Nigeria’s security situation as he confirmed he would be contesting under the opposition party.
